The morphological changes in the cochlea following administration of ethacrynic acid occur initially in the stria vascularis of the basal coils as an increased intracellular vesiculation of the marginal cells followed by inter- and intracellular oedema in the intermediate cell layer. The combined administration of ethacrynic acid and atoxyl (individual doses) can cause irreversible damage to the cochlear hair cells and the stria vascularis, while the administration of each of them separately in the same low dose did not cause hair cell degeneration or persistent morphological changes of the stria vascularis. An increased penetration of atoxyl into the cochlea is likely to occur due to the ethacrynic acid-induced changes in the permeability of the endolymphatic partition so that the earlier known penetration of atoxyl into the cochlea is increased.